Market Watch, November 2019

70 MARKET WATCH MARKETWATCHMAG COM NOVEMBER 2019Within the portfolio are five 100 Tannat offerings which play key roles with American consumers The RPF Tannat 20 a 750 ml aged for one year in French oak barrels and the Río de los Pájaros Tannat 15 are among Pisanos most popular wines in the U S performing well in both on and off premise accounts Pisano notes that high end restaurants in particular turn to Uruguayan Tannat as a point of differentiation on their wine lists I once met Alain Ducasse whom we sell to and asked him why he was offering wines from this obscure region in his restaurants says Pisano He told me Because my clients have tried all the Pétrus Mouton Rothschild Opus One Domi nus and their ilk and many of them would really like to explore something different Antigua Bodega Stagnari is another winery seeing consid erable success in the U S thanks to its higher end expressions of Tannat The winerys stateside growth drivers are all Tannat wines Osiris Tannat 60 a 750 ml Il Nero Tannat 70 and Prima Donna Tannat 19 All three offerings were aged in French or American oak for varying amounts of time prior to bottling Around 50 of Stagnaris vineyards are planted to Tannat with such international varietals as Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Cabernet Franc and Syrah rounding out the remaining vineyard space Looking ahead Stagnari export manager Fabian Houjeije notes that heightened promotion of Uruguays culture namely the long pairing history of Tannat with Uruguays top commodity beef in the U S will be key in adding emotional context for consumers and bring ing them on board Given the limited scope of Uruguays production and its low exports to the U S the average American consumer has little knowledge if any of Tannat To counter this and to introduce the grape in a more familiar setting many producers have turned to Tannat based blends Stagnari is among those investing in Tannat blends releasing the Bella Donna range this year which includes a Tannat Cabernet and fourth generation family member at Pisano Family Wines But that makes it a fantastic offering for wine lovers who are looking to discover a new sort of a wine that carries a distinc tive flavor profile He points to Uruguays melding of Old World technique many vintners being descendants of Ital ian or Basque immigrants maintain European winemaking traditions with New World climates as key in giving the wines their particularly potent senses of place Pisano offers a lengthy lineup of wines totaling around 30000 cases annually 5000 of which are exported to the U S U S IMPORT VALUE OF WINEFROM URUGUAY 2013 2018 millions of dollars Calendar YearsSources U S Dept of Commerce and IMPACT DATABANK 2019 05 10 15 20 25201820172016201520142013While Tannat is Uruguays national grape some vintners are focusing on alternative varietals At Bodega Bouza vineyard pictured in Montevideo Albariño has long been a part of the lineup with the winery producing the first Uruguayan expression of the grape in 2004